Theodore Roosevelt Abroad Previous Books by J. Lee Thompson A Wider Patriotism: Alfred Milner and the British Empire (2007) Forgotten Patriot: A Life of Alfred, Viscount Milner of St James’ and Cape Town (2006) Northcliffe: Press Baron in Politics, 1865–1922 (2000) Politicians, the Press and Propaganda: Lord Northcliffe and the Great War, 1914–1919 (1999) T R A HEODORE OOSEVELT BROAD N , E , J ATURE MPIRE AND THE OURNEY OF AN A P MERICAN RESIDENT J. L T EE HOMPSON THEODORE ROOSEVELT ABROAD Copyright © J. Lee Thompson, 2010. All rights reserved. First published in 2010 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries. ISBN 978-1-349-28719-2 ISBN 978-0-230-10647-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230106475 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Thompson, J. Lee, 1951– Theodore Roosevelt abroad : nature, empire, and the journey of an American president / by J. Lee Thompson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-230-10277-4 (alk.paper) 1. Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858–1919—Travel—Africa. 2. Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858–1919—Travel—Europe. 3. Africa—Description and travel. 4. Europe—Description and travel. 5. Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858–1919— Political and social views. 6. Nature conservation—Africa—History—20th century. 7. Imperialism—History—20th century. 8. United States—Foreign relations—1909–1913. 9. United States—Politics and government— 1909–1913. 10. Ex-presidents—United States—Biography. I. Title. E757.T47 2010 973.91(cid:2)1092—dc22 2009039961 A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library. Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India. First edition: April 2010 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 To Raymond Ulrich This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface and Acknowledgments ix Prologue xiii 1 The Old Lion Departs 1 2 The Great Adventure Begins 27 3 A Lion Roars in East Africa 53 4 White Rhino and Giant Eland 75 Gallery 89 5 Down the Nile: Khartoum to Cairo 101 6 European Whirl 117 7 Peace Emissary 133 8 Last Rites: England 151 9 The Old Lion Is Dead: Epilogue and Dramatis Personae 171 Notes 181 Selected Bibliography 205 Index 215 This page intentionally left blank Preface and Acknowledgments A century ago, the journalist John Callan O’Laughlin published From the Jungle through Europe with Roosevelt (1910). Outside TR’s own African Game Trails that same year O’Laughlin’s work has until now remained the only other separate book-length study to seriously chronicle even part of Roosevelt’s fifteen-month post-presidential odyssey.1 The reasons for this neglect are many. First, hunting has not been a popular subject for contemporary historians, who also have been in the main loath to admit the key role played by gentlemen hunters such as Roosevelt in the founding and preservation of the American conservation movement.2 In such natural pursuits TR had a long his- tory, back to his boyhood studies of birds and other wildlife in New York, further stimulated at Harvard and in his brief, yet formative, “Cowboy” period in the Dakotas. The most dynamic president the United States has ever had, TR was also the first, and sadly only, environmentalist head of state. Roosevelt’s most lasting domestic legacy as president came in the conservation of vast tracts of wilderness for the future use and enjoyment of the nation. When he left the presidency in 1909, TR was well aware that many African species were already endangered, and he was careful to mount what was considered at the time a cutting-edge scientific safari. Stories of bloody Rooseveltian carnage have abounded ever since, yet out of hundreds of African big game trophies, the number taken for his personal collection was tiny, with almost all of the specimens going to the Smithsonian and other collections, where they are still studied by scientists today. Another reason TR’s tour has been given relatively little attention is simply that it represents a calm between the relative storms of his preceding presidency and the soon to follow 1912 Bull Moose campaign. Roosevelt attempted to leave politics behind in 1909, and